Page 34 of Beaches

“Good, that’s very good,” smiled Eli. “Come with us, and we’ll get you to a ship and safety.”

With Eli, Max, Nine, and Titus taking the girls to the ship, Skull and Zulu were left to destroy the compound and leave nothing behind. Finding a laptop and several flash drives, they tucked them in their packs and lit up the sky.

If that didn’t send a message, they weren’t sure what would.

Teams three and six took the compounds in Jakarta. With more than double the women as the previous compounds, the hardest part wasn’t eliminating the guards but getting the women to follow without question or fear. In spite of their training, they knew enough to not cross the border of the compound. As they set fire to everything, Rory calmly explained that there were no borders any longer. They could go wherever they liked.

In the end, Major and Rory stole large flatbed trucks, using them to load the girls and get them to the docks where the transport boats were waiting to take them to the ships.

On board, the medical personnel were so shocked by what they saw many of the young corpsmen and medics had to excuse themselves to collect their thoughts.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said one of the medics to Rory. “I’ve just never seen anything – anything like this. I mean, I have a kid sister their age.”

“I know, son. Just be gentle. Lord knows they’ve never seen gentle before.”

When they received word that teams one and five were safely aboard their transports, the team made their way to the massive carrier they would be calling home until they could find Kaplan. With an ability to hold their boats and the Ospreys, the carrier was the only option for them.

“Admiral, we appreciate your hospitality,” said Nine. The man stared at the group of men, shaking his head.

“You’re all fucking real. I thought you were just myths and legends, but here you are on the deck of my ship as big as fucking life,” he smirked. He looked around Nine to see Alec, Tailor, Noah, Skull, Max, Titus, Zulu, and Rory. “Some of you are slightly bigger than life.”

“We’re real, sir. How are the girls that were brought here?” asked Gaspar.

“A fucking mess. I’ve seen some sick mind games played in my military career. We all know about psychological torture and behavior training, but that’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Do you know where this man is?”

“Not yet,” said Trak. The admiral jumped slightly, turning to eye the dark man, and shook his head.

“Like I said. Real. And the islands for the lost POWs?” he asked.

“Our team is working on that as we speak. Do you have enough space for our team?” asked Nine.

“More than enough,” he nodded. “Lieutenant? Get them to the showers, their beds, and get them some hot food. Lord knows they deserve it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Kaplan was receiving call after call that his compounds were burned to the ground and his girls were gone. The next calls were demanding the return of their money or double the number of women delivered by end of week.

There was no way he could do that. Much to his chagrin, he returned the funds in his bank accounts and then demanded answers.

“You said you would let me know if they sent someone,” he growled into the phone.

“I didn’t know anyone was being sent. It’s probably a Delta or SEAL team.”

“It would have been multiple teams, and you should have known!” he screamed. “It’s all gone. All of it! Do you understand what that’s done to me? Not only do I not have my money, I have no women to negotiate with. I have nothing.”

“You have the POWs. Use them as ransom,” said the other person.

“Are you mad? Do you know what would happen to me if I tried to ransom them? These aren’t just Americans. I’ve got Japanese, Russians, Australians, Brits. I’ll be fucking cooked alive by every nation in the world! I need those men dead so they can’t talk. Send me men.”

“I can’t. I’m being watched closely. I can’t send any men to you.”

“I need men to get those men off the islands and kill them,” he snapped.

“You’ll have to do it yourself or just let them die out there. I can’t send anything your way. In fact, I can’t speak with you again. Don’t call this number.”

The call abruptly ended, and Kaplan immediately redialed, getting a voicemail message. A few moments later, he tried again only to hear a message that said the number was no longer in service.

“Fuck!” he howled.

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